Experts question North Korea role in WannaCry cyber attack

The North is internationally suspected of having committed the ransomware attack as it is believed to have associated with Lazarus Group, which is also suspected of hacking into South Korean banks in 2013, Sony Pictures in 2014 and Bangladesh's central bank in February.

Experts said that has left millions of Chinese computers without security support and made China among countries most affected by the WannaCry "ransomware" attack, which has hit more than 150 countries.

Investigators said the attack was not meant to extort money, as most ransomware attacks do.

"Our researchers analysed this information, identified and confirmed clear code similarities between the malware sample highlighted by the Google researcher and the malware samples used by the "Lazarus Group" in 2015 attacks", Altaf Halde, Managing Director of Kaspersky Lab (South Asia), told IANS.

He claimed to have past year tracked down an elite North Korean hacker who boasted online that the country was conducting tests for ransomware attacks.

Who is behind the huge WannaCry ransomware attack?

American cybersecurity firm Symantec also said that it found a code used in the malware that "historically was unique to Lazarus tools", but it didn't speculate on North Korea's role in the attack.

Security researchers and USA intelligence officials have cautioned that such evidence is not conclusive, and the investigation is in its early stages.

A new campaign to mine the same currency, using the same Windows weakness as WannaCry, could be coincidence, or it could suggest that North Korea was responsible for both the ransomware and the currency mining. Kaspersky noted that false flags within "WannaCrypt" were "possible" but "improbable", as the shared code was removed from later versions. Another researcher, Comae Technologies' Matthieu Suiche, corroborated the findings.

Investigators said they had detected code similar to that used by a shadowy cybercrime network implicated in the Sony attack, the Lazarus Group, though they stressed that more investigation was necessary.

Microsoft said on Tuesday it was aware of Shadow Brokers' most recent claim and that its security teams monitor potential threats in order to "help us prioritize and take appropriate action". While these connections exist, they so far only represent weak connections.

RECCOMENDED STORIES

Kevin Love Finds Cavs' Underdog Label 'Funny'
At practice Saturday, Love said he finds it amusing everyone is labeling the Cavaliers underdogs against the Warriors . We're trying to repeat, which is so hard to do. "I think it's the greatness of the players we have".

Decoding Donald Trump's body language at the G7 Summit
He's retracted his vow to label China a currency manipulator and has lavished praise on Chinese President Xi Jinping. And in any case, Markovic said , "it is natural that the president of the United States is in the front row".

Police release CCTV pictures of Manchester bomber
Grande, meanwhile, promised to return to "the incredibly fearless city of Manchester" to hold a benefit concert for the victims. Along with the 11 suspects in United Kingdom custody, police in Libya have detained Abedi's father and brother.

'Threematch' at hand for Cavaliers and Warriors
The Cavs' Kyle Korver , picked up in trade from the Atlanta Hawks, is shooting 42 percent from 3-point range in the playoffs. Thomas said he'd like to see management keep much of the team intact but find a way to add at least one more impact player.

Arsenal defeat Chelsea to clinch Record 13th FA Cup Crown
But there were few signs of ring-rust as the former Germany defender produced three crucial last-ditch blocks to thwart Costa. But Arsenal continued to threaten on the break and in the 68th minute the momentum tilted yet further in their direction.

Arsenal tops Chelsea to win 3rd FA Cup in 4 seasons
Unsurprisingly, Wenger is anxious about publicly discussing whether he expects the north London club to offer a new contract. Chelsea's attack was stifled, who only had one shot on goal in the first half.

Kushner sought secret back channel with Russia
You can listen to McMaster's remarks above, via MSNBC. "I don't trust this story as far as I can throw it", he said. Kislyak also attended a Trump campaign speech in Washington in April 2016 that Kushner attended.

Cavs Back to Finals
This postseason the Warriors may be hoping that they can win the trophy that they watched slip out of their hands just a year ago. Really, the only established players who had been respected throughout their careers were Avery Bradley and newcomer Al Horford.